Active Program
The 2026 season marks the launch of the very first YCCBC team in Victoria. As a new pilot program, our focus this inaugural season is on building meaningful, reciprocal relationships with organizations, communities, and rightsholders across Southern Vancouver Island while exploring potential ways we can strengthen climate resilience across the region. Through community mapping, connecting with local partners, and learning from diverse climate initiatives already underway, we hope to better understand how additional capacity can meaningfully support and build on the existing climate action legacy in the Greater Victoria region.
A major focus for our first season is our partnership with BC Parks Foundation (BCPF). Working alongside the BCPF South Island Field Crew, our team is supporting hands-on restoration and stewardship projects throughout Southern Vancouver Island, including invasive species removal and biodiversity monitoring. This includes the servicing and replacing of remote wildlife cameras and Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) to help collect valuable data that supports the long-term tracking and protection of wildlife in the South Island landscape.
As our pilot season continues, we are actively seeking out opportunities to connect with municipalities, Indigenous governments, community organizations, environmental groups, and other local partners to explore new opportunities to learn and collaborate. We look forward to supporting community-led climate initiatives, responding to local priorities, and helping to bridge the connections that foster a sustainable and resilient future for Southern Vancouver Island.
Interested in connecting with YCCBC Victoria? We welcome invitations from community to share knowledge, collaborate and explore ways we can support ongoing climate action and related projects.
Territorial Acknowledgment
We are grateful to live and work on the traditional, unceded, and continually occupied territories of the WSÁNEĆ Nation (including the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum), and BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin) First Nations) and the lək̓ʷəŋən People, including the Songhees Nation and Xʷsepsəm (Esquimalt) Nation, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. We acknowledge with respect the past, present and future stewardship and protection of the land by these governments, and are grateful for opportunities to contribute and support this work.
We are both settlers with ties to many lands and communities, and have grown up on the traditional and unceded territories of the WSÁNEĆ Nation and the lək̓ʷəŋən People, as well as Treaty 6 territory, including the traditional territory, gathering space, and travel routes of the nêhiyawak (Plains Cree), nīhithaw (Woodlands Cree), Nakawē (Saulteaux), Niitsítapi (Blackfoot), Denesųłiné, Nakota Sioux, and Métis Nations. These connections and relations inform our work and lives on the land of the WSÁNEĆ Nation and lək̓ʷəŋən People.
We encourage you to learn more about WSÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən territory, history, and governance through Indigenous-led resources and community organizations.
The YCCBC Victoria team invites you to learn alongside us:
-First Peoples’ Map of B.C.: First People’s Cultural Council (Includes information about languages, arts and heritage of 204 First Nations across B.C.)
-Pronunciation Guide to First Nations in British Columbia: Raven SiJohn (2014)
-History and Territory: WSÁNEĆ Leadership Council (Tsartlip & Tseycum First Nations)
-History of the ləḱʷəŋən Peoples: Lekwungen Charitable Society
-Čəléŋən ɬtə (Our History): Esquimalt Nation
-lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory: Songhees Nation
As uninvited guests, we are committed to continued reconciliation and to supporting and uplifting WSÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən perspectives and priorities. We know we will make mistakes, and we are committed to learning from them and trying again. We welcome opportunities and feedback on how we can further support decolonization in our work.
Please note:
The YCCBC team wrote this territory acknowledgement while referencing the knowledge and guidance shared in “The Lands We Walk: Free Land Acknowledgement Resource” (2024), created by the Indigenous Perspectives Society, and the “Transformative Territory Acknowledgement Guide,” created by Len Pierre Consulting.
Photo Caption: The 2026 Victoria mobilizers, Sydney and Fynn.
Within Youth Climate Corps, crew members are between 17-30 years old; they earn wages, gain work experience, build networks, and develop themselves personally and professionally. Meanwhile, they complete projects that both benefit their own communities and support global efforts to act on the climate crisis.
If you or your organization wants to learn more about how to team up with us and move forward on projects in your community, or if you are interested in funding one of our projects related to our different focus areas, we are here to support you.